Why does their story start with a picture of the record paddlefish caught out of Table Rock?
Oh well, good job MDC. There is no reason other than greed to have so many fish over your limit. On a good day I might catch 40 or 50. If I want some fish for the table I will keep my limit of four decent sized trout. 12-15 inches. Any under, or over are returned to the lake. All after I have a limit in the boat are released.
Taneycomo is not supposed to be an "all you can eat" Branson buffet!

It's time to put some serious monetary penalties and even jail consequences on meat-hog violators like these two. Maybe it's time to start confiscating their boats and tow vehicles like the State of Minnesota does with game and fish regulation violators ?

Rescinding their "fishing privileges" is going to last until maybe next week when they'll be back at it again. They were in full knowledge of what they were trying to get away with when way over both the daily catch and possession limits.

It's not just Trout that are affected by these meat-hogs but our Deer population gets hit hard by Poachers using early and illegal methods too. We're currently hearing the usual high-powered, single rifle shots and know of one particular Archery hunter that is staying on their stand in the woods way after dark.

We're currently hearing the usual high-powered, single rifle shots and know of one particular Archery hunter that is staying on their stand in the woods way after dark.

It's almost 8:00 PM, way after dark, and we're hearing gunshots tonight. I can't be sure, but it seems to be coming from the direction of Black Oak Mountain. That way, rather than toward you, which is usually Young Life fireworks on Saturday night.
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I have always driven a lot. I've hit my share of deer and other critters. I've had near-miss after near-miss, including one at dark-thirty in the morning last week where I have no idea how I or the car I was meeting at the time missed the deer, or it missed us.

Each incidence varies from aggravating to somewhat traumatic.

But they have never made me want to see wildlife taken illegally; they did not make me pro-poacher.

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"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."Winston Churchill

It's almost 8:00 PM, way after dark, and we're hearing gunshots tonight. I can't be sure, but it seems to be coming from the direction of Black Oak Mountain. That way, rather than toward you, which is usually Young Life fireworks on Saturday night.

With all our Hills and Hollers it's really hard to tell what direction certain sounds are coming from. We hear engine sounds coming from the rise behind us and swear something's coming down our road and it's a sound reflection from boat(s) on the Lake side.

To me, single high-powered rifle shots during daylight indicate Poaching and we know of one person who always has Venison from at least six Deer in his Freezer and brags about it.

We get the Fireworks sounds and see sky-flashes from Fireworks at Camp Run-a-Muck in Summer. Careless and Rude operation of their multiple ski-boats and jet-skis has earned them a lot of dislike around here to say nothing of dock-damages the same behavior has caused people. Didn't even realize Young-life did anything connected with Fireworks....Bread-Tray must block it.

Yeah, thanks, I've had that number saved on my phone for a few years now.

The MDC Agents are spread so thin and are almost always so distant that by the time I call, after noticing the same Truck with all kinds of Bow-Hunter decals in the rear window, still parked on the side of the Road, that the truck is gone.

We did get the license plate number which was tough to see cause there was none displayed on the front of the truck and the rear plate was mostly obscured by some kind of tube-rack thingy.

This is not the first instance of a Bow-hunter staying way too late that we've seen in our area. It's just a really asinine thing to try and get away with...like no one is going to notice a strange truck parked on the side of a paved road after dark with huge decals about bow-hunting in the rear window.

That gets me back to my original point, our penalties for violations of our game and fish laws are far too lenient.

Hmmm...well there are several points to consider...up until 2014, it WAS LEGAL to take an UNLIMITED number of anterless/young bucks/does in Missouri! So, if you had neighbors "bragging" about having 6 (or for that matter, 600!!) deer in their freezer(s) in the years preceding and up to, 2014, they were doing NOTHING illegal!

As for a truck sitting beside a road, after dark, with hunting decals all over it..well, it just depends HOW FAR that hunter had to walk in to get into his tree stand! If he is several miles deep into the woods (yes, it IS possible to be "there") and stays on the stand until sundown/dark, then carefully walks out, going up and down the rugged canyons, hollers, skirting rock bluffs, and streams, it can take a LONG TIME to get back to your truck!! And again, he is doing NOTHING illegal!

There are areas in Missouri with SEVERE deer overpopulations! As an example, take the tiny little burg of Town and Country. They have been spending $100K, that's correct, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, every year to fund the killing of thousands of deer, in a desperate attempt to gain control of the whitetail OVERPOPULATION in their area! But to no avail, as the more they spend, the more deer they kill, the FASTER the deer reproduce, and the LARGER the OVERPOPULATION of white tails becomes! Last I heard, they were looking to either attempt a vast STERILIZATION of the deer herds....there seems to be conflicting debate within the scientific community as to whether that is a viable option, that is more effective than hunting and shooting them.

My personal opinion, is that I am tired of being on edge anytime I am driving at dark on any Missouri highway, straining my eyes and ready to slam on my brakes or take drastic evasive action, for any deer that jump out in front of me! So, IMO, please harvest all the deer you wish! I have had multiple collisons with deer, in Missouri, and Arkansas, traveling back and forth at times, and I don't wish for any more! Of course, do all your "harvesting" legally..yep, yep.

it just depends HOW FAR that hunter had to walk in to get into his tree stand! If he is several miles deep into the woods (yes, it IS possible to be "there") and stays on the stand until sundown/dark, then carefully walks out,

Yes, I thought that could be a viable reason. However, even though legal by MDC regulations I think it is unethical to stay on your stand until the legal 1/2 hour after sunset. Especially during an archery hunt where having to track a deer in the dark is a very high possibility. Making losing the deer a much larger possibility than if you had an hour or more of good light.
Back to the original point of this thread, I find it interesting these guys were caught. In over 25 years of fishing on Taneycomo I have never been checked by an agent. A few years ago, and now again recently I have been approached by MDC employees, not agents, surveying fishermen. But they haven't even asked to see a permit, and only went by what I told them I had in the livewell. They did however want to measure one nice fish while I was fishing a tournament....and almost dropped it in the lake!

I used to be on the state Operation Game Thief board here in Louisiana. It was interesting and, I believed, worthwhile. I got off because it was a long drive for meetings, but it was a good experience.

Yes, I thought that could be a viable reason. However, even though legal by MDC regulations I think it is unethical to stay on your stand until the legal 1/2 hour after sunset. Especially during an archery hunt where having to track a deer in the dark is a very high possibility. Making losing the deer a much larger possibility than if you had an hour or more of good light.
Back to the original point of this thread, I find it interesting these guys were caught. In over 25 years of fishing on Taneycomo I have never been checked by an agent. A few years ago, and now again recently I have been approached by MDC employees, not agents, surveying fishermen. But they haven't even asked to see a permit, and only went by what I told them I had in the livewell. They did however want to measure one nice fish while I was fishing a tournament....and almost dropped it in the lake!

We used to get checked by a Creel Census MDC guy regularly on TR but he became ill and passed away. That was years ago and they never replaced him.

Kinda' welcomed his "checks" cause he was always ready to pass on some info from others about what they were biting on

To answer the original question, "who's been fishing", I have. The water was way down last weekend and I started out by being dropped off at the dam and waded/fished my way back to Pointe Royale. The boss went shopping. I did very well, but only on one fly, the Tiger Tail. It was overcast, but did not rain. In low light conditions I find my amber lens sun glasses worked the best.
I once ran off some people fishing at the Rebar Hole from the bank using Powerbait and keeping every fish. They were over the limit even if they could keep them. I chewed them out and told them they were going to jail because I had called the conversation agent. They skedaddled!

To answer the original question, "who's been fishing", I have. The water was way down last weekend and I started out by being dropped off at the dam and waded/fished my way back to Pointe Royale. The boss went shopping. I did very well, but only on one fly, the Tiger Tail. It was overcast, but did not rain. In low light conditions I find my amber lens sun glasses worked the best.
I once ran off some people fishing at the Rebar Hole from the bank using Powerbait and keeping every fish. They were over the limit even if they could keep them. I chewed them out and told them they were going to jail because I had called the conversation agent. They skedaddled!

Fly

Good job Fly. Although I usually try to handle such situation with a bit more finesse. I will start by pointing out the special regulations, and daily limit. If that leads to a more comfrontational response, it's Operation Game Theft phone call time.

There has been a male and female viewed multiple times in the dry fly area fishing with live bait and tossing caught fish in the bushes. Many fisherman have commented on fishing sites, and it has been reported to authorities many times. Perhaps that's why the agents were on the lake - looking for this couple.